Treatment of cigarettes



May 26, 1942. BE T 2,284,117

, TREATMENT OFQCIGARETTES I Filed May 20, 1952 :s Sheets-Sheet 1 Art? 70285 8.

May26', 1942. QBEST I 2,284,117

TREATMENT" OF' CIGARETTES Filed May 20, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1622 rneys.

Ma 26,1942. Q BE T 2,284,117

TREATMENT" OF} CIGARETTES Filed May 20, 19 58 3 Sheets-Sheet 3' fltta rnefs.

Patented May 26, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TREATMENT OF CIGARETTES Cyril Best, 'Deptford, London, England, assignor to Molins Machine Company Limited, London,

England Application May 20, 1938, Serial No. 209,138 In Great Britain June 3, 1937 11 Claims.

arettes that portions of tobacco protrude beyond.

the ends of the paper tubes enclosing the tobacco core, such portions of tobacco spoiling the appearance of the finished cigarette and being objectionable in that they sometimes become separated from the end of the cigarette whilst it is being smoked and enter the smokers mouth.

It has been proposed in prior United States Letters Patent No. 1,977,239 to test the ends of cigarettes to determine whether or not the ends are too soft, the mechanism for this purpose comprising a pair of feelers arranged toengage the opposite ends of each cigarette, at least one feeler of each pair being yieldingly mounted to move inwardly towards the other, means to deliver one cigarette at a time between the feelers, and means for releasing the cigarette from the feelers at a different time and/or place according to the movement of the yielding feeler when the particular cigarette is being tested;

According to the present invention there is provided a device for compressing the tobacco at the ends of cigarettes, comprising a pair of presser elements (e. g., heated presser elements) arranged to engage the opposite ends of a cigarette, said elements being yieldingly mounted to move inwardly towards each other, means to deliver cigarettes one at a time between the presser elements, and means to arrest the inward movement of the presser elements after they have moved a predetermined distance.-

The presser elements v(for example, a plurality of pairs of presser elements) may be supported by a movable carrier, (for example, a rotatable carrier), each presser element of a pair being pivoted to the carrier and urged (e. g., resiliently urged) towards the other element of a pair, and a cam may be provided to move the elements of a pair away from each other to permit a .cigarette to be introduced between the elements or to relieve the pressure exerted by the pressure elements.

For the purpose of testing the ends of a cigarette a feeler element may be provided to co-' operate with each presser element, the feelers face of the presser element which engages the end of a cigarette to permit the feeler to project from the cigarette engaging face of the, presser element and means (e. g., yielding means) may be operative in timed relationship with the movement of one presser element of a pair towards the'other element of the pair to effect movement of the feeler relatively to the-presser element.

. Apparatus constructed according to the invention will be described by Way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention, some,

parts being broken away. a

Figure 2 is an end elevation of Figure 1 looking in thedirection of the arrow 2.

Figures 3 and 4 show details of the mechanism shown in Figures 1 and 2.

, Figure 5 is a view of a presser element and a feeler engaging the end of a cigarette and is drawn to an enlarged scale.

Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the specification and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, a quantity of ciga-- rettes which are to be tested are contained in a hopper 6 and are, fed therefrom in known manner one at a time and delivered into flutes 1 formed in a rotatable carrier 8. The cigarettes in the hopper 6 are slightly agitated by a plate 9 which is connected with an arm I0, the latter being in turn connected with an arm I I mounted on a spindle l2 and oscillated about its pivot by a cam l3 which co-operates with a cam follower I4 connected with a further arm Ha also mount-- The flutes! formed in the drum flare, as can be seen from the drawings, of substantially rectilinear cross-section, and the carrier 8 is rotated in-the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 1. The cigarettes are delivered to the flutes of the rotatable carrier just before a flute of the carrier occupies the position indicated by the reference numeral I5, see Figure 1. As the carrier rotates after receiving a cigarette, the cigarette is passed beneath a thin spring steel band It, one end of which is anchored at H, whilst the opposite end is adjustably anchored atl8= The arrangement of the flexible strip' Iiiis similar to that described in United States ap-' plication Serial No. 210,977 and operates to retain a cigarette against the bottom wall of a flute 1 and also against the rear wall of the fiute, that is, the rear wall considered in the direction of movement of the rotatable carrier, in. order to locate the cigarette for engagement by presser. 5. elements about to be described.

Each cigarette which is delivered'to the rotat-i 'j able carrier 8 is arranged to be engaged by apair of presser elements 19, (see Figures 2, 3 and 5), the presser elements of a pair being arranged on opposite sides of the carrier 8'and supported byarms 28, each of which is pivoted at 2| to the rotatable carrier 8 so as to be movable with the carrier 8. Each arm 20 of a pair is resil--- iently connected with the other by a spring 22 which as can be seen from Figures 2 and 3 tends to urge the presser elements l9 towards each other. A pair of stationary cams'23 which are fixed to bushes 55 mounted in the side frames 3| are arranged to engage with tail pieces 24 provided on the arms and operate to turn the arms 20 about their pivots 2| so as to release the pressure on the ends of a cigarette at the appropriate moment. Each of the arms 20 is provided with an adjustable stop 25 which engages 2'5 with the side faces of the rotatable carrier 8 and determines the distance by which the arms 20 can move inwardly towards each other and thereby determines the amount by which the tobacco at the ends of a cigarette is pressed inwardly.

The cross-sectional area of a presser element I9 is slightly less than that of a cigarette, so that when the presser members of a pair move towards one another to compress the tobacco at the ends of the cigarettes, the paper tube enclosing the tobacco core is not crushed.

By the arrangement justdescribed the presser elements l9 are operated so as to press in the tobacco of the ends of a cigarette, of even those cigarettes which are relatively hard, and as stated above, the stops 25 determine the inward distance to which the presser elements are moved. By this means the distance between the compressed ends .of a cigarette is always the same. It will, of course, be appreciated that the tobacco at the ends of the cigarettes is not compressed to any great extent, but that the ends are pressed so that the tobacco core is compressed for a short distance into the interior of the paper tube enclosing the core, and it is found that when the presser elements are opened so as to disengage the ends of a cigarette, the compressed tobacco has some resiliency" which causes the tobacco to move lengthwise of the cigarette and towards the ends thereof.

In order to test the cigarttes and for the purpose of discovering cigarettes, the ends of which are too soft, feelers 26 are provided to engage with the tobacco at the ends of the cigarettes after the latter have been compressed by the presser elements IS. The feelers 26 are slidably disposed in apertures which extend through the presser elements 19, the aperture in a presser element being provided with an outlet on that face of the presser element which engages an end of a cigarette. The feelers 26 are arranged to be a good sliding fit in the apertures in the presser elements l9.

As the rotatable carrier 8 is rotated, the pairs of presserelements [9 which are-engaging cigarettes pass between a number of thin spring plates 21 and the spring plates operate to press the feelers 26 against the compressed tobacco atthe ends of the cigarettes. Preferably a number. 75

of plates 21 instead of a single plate are used to permitadjustment as mentioned later.

If the ends of a cigarette are relatively hard, then the spring plates 21 are urged away from the rotatable carrier 8 by the feelers 26, since the pressure exerted by the spring plates 21 which may be adjusted by the screws 62, is so determined. as not to be sufficient to press the feeler elements unduly against the compressed ends of the cigarette, that is the spring plates yield so the outer ends of the feelers which rub on the .plates are not displaced. Should, however, the-ends of a cigarette be soft, the feelers will underthe pressure of the spring plates project into the ends of a cigarette and at a later stage will set in operation mechanism about to be described which mechanism separates the cigarettev so detected as having a soft end from the remainder of the tested cigarettes.

The mechanism which is arranged to separate defective cigarettes from the remaining tested cigarettes comprises a plate 28 having a pair of projections 29 and is connected with a spindle 30 mounted for rotation in the frame 3| of the apparatus. The plate 28 is moved about the axis of the spindle 36 by a plunger 32 of a solenoid 33, the plunger 32 being arranged to engage with an arm 34 secured to the spindle 36. The solenoid 33 is operated in the following manner:

A battery 35 or other suitable source of electrical energy is arranged to energise a circuit which includes the solenoid 33, Figure 2, and the circuit is'arranged to be completed in timed relationship with the movement of the pairs of i presserelements J9 by a cam 36 which is secured to the shaft 31 to which the rotatable carrier 8 is also secured. The cam 36 engages with a spring plate 38, see Figure 1, and depresses the spring against a conductor 39 which supports contact element 46. The contact element 40 forms a part of a make and break contact of which the other part is constituted by an element 4|. The make and break device is adjustably fixed to the frame 3| 'by a bracket, not shown.

In the circuit there are also included two further'make and break contacts in parallel, a set being arranged at each side of the rotatable carrier 8, see Figure 2. Each make and break contact comprises a conductor 42 which is con- 1 nected with a carrier 43 pivoted at 44 and which is provided with a tail 45 arranged continuously to engage with a further conductor 46. The other element of the make and break, contact comprises the screw 41 and to the carrier 43 there is connected a plate 48 which is engaged by the feelers 26 in the manner indicated in Figure 4 and described below, if the ends of the cigarettes engaged thereby are not unduly soft, that is, in cases where the spring plates 21 yield instead of pressing said feelers inwards as in the case of soft ended cigarettes. Referring to Figures 1 and 4, it willbe observed from the former figure that the plate 48 extends through anarc struck from the center of the shaft 31 for about 30 and from the latter figure it willbe seen conductor and contact member 41-, thus interrupting the electrical current flowing through the circuit which latter is, at the time when the feeler engages the plate 48, completed by the cam 36. The interruption of the circuit by the feeler engaging the plate 48 has the result that the solenoid. is not energised and theplate '28 is not moved so as to cause the projections 29 to tate, thereby causing the projections 29 on the;

plate 28 to protrude into the path of the cigarettes at the time when the defective cigarette is to passthe position atwhich the. projections 29 are located. As a make and break contact is arranged on each side of the rotatable carrier 8 it will be seen that if a cigarette haseither one or both ends unduly soft it will be rejected as the circuit through the solenoid is always made if a ieeler does not protrude far enough to separate one contact. The fixed cams 23 release the cigarettes: from the presser elements l9 before they arrive at the position at which the projections 29 are located and so, if the projections are disposed in the path of a cigarette it will be separated from the remainder of the cigarettes and delivered to a position different from that to which the remaining tested cigarettes are delivered, for example, it rolls down-a plate 51.

If the cigarettes are not defective they are carried by the flutes l of the carrier 8 past the position at which the projections 29 are located and are delivered to any suitable point. A curved shield 58- retains the cigarettes in the flutes until the discharge point is reached. When 1 the spindle 3D is rotated so as to cause the projections 29 to protrude into the path of the cigarettes, a catch 49 which is mounted freely on a spindle 5G- suitably mounted in bearings in the frame 3| is arranged to engage with a D shapedelement 5|, see Figure 1, formed on an arm 52 which is secured to the spindle 30. The catch, therefore, retains the projections 29 in position until the defective cigarette has been separated from the remainder of the tested cigarettes, but before the next succeeding cigarette carried by the rotatable carrier 8 arrives at the separating position the catch 49' is, unless the solenoid has again been operated because the next succeeding cigarette is also defective, arrangedto release the D member 5| and the spindle 39' is returned to the position shown in Figure 1 by a spring. In order to permit the D-shaped member 5| to be released by the catch 49 the catch 49 is moved in an upward direction as seen in Figure l by a pin 59 on an arm 60 fixed to the spindle 50. The spindle 58 is turned about its axis by the cam 36 which engages with a cam follower 53 secured to an arm 5'3 connected with the spindle 50. A spring 6! returns the arm 54.

For convenience the circuits are shown throughout as dot and dash lines, while insulating material is indicated by cross hatching.

If desired, the presser element 19 may be heated in order tofacilitate the compression of the ends of the cigarettes. The heating of the presser elements is in such cases preferably effected by the engagement of the presser elements with a heating surface at some suitable point during their rotation. It will, however,

be appreciated that toogreat a heat mustnot be employed or the tobacco attheends of the cigarettesbecomestoo dry. The temperature must, of course, be determined by the moisture content of the tobacco in the cigarettes and'the speed of operation of the apparatus, because ifthe heat is too great, in addition to the fact that the tobacco at the ends of the. cigarettes will become too dry,

juices fromthe tobacco will adhere to the presser elements and this must as far as possible, be avoided;

, What-Iclaim as my invention and desire to secure by LettersPatent is:

1. In a device for testing and compressing the tobacco at the ends of cigarettes; a pair of presser elements arranged to engage the opposite ends of a' cigarette, said elements each being yieldingly mounted to move inwardly towards the other, means to deliver cigarettes one at a time between the presser elements, means to arrest the inward movement of the presser elements after they have moved a predetermined distance, a feeler co-operatingwith each: presser element to engage the tobacco at the endof a cigarette and means to urge said feelers towards each other, said last named means becoming operative after the presser elements have been moved into the position; at which they are closest together.

2. In a device for testing and compressing the tobacco at'the ends of cigarettes, a pair of presser elements arranged to engage the opposite ends of a cigarette, said elements each being yieldingly mounted to move inwardly towards the other, means to delivercigarettesone at a time between the presser elements, means to arrest the inward movement of the presser elements after they have moved a predetermined distance, a feeler co-operating with each presser element to engage the tobacco at the end of a cigarette, and means to urge said feelers towards each other, said last means becoming operative after the presser elements have been moved into the position at which they are closest together.

3. In a device for testing and compressing the tobacco at the ends-of cigarettes, a movable carrier, a plurality of pairs of presser elements each of which is pivoted to the carrier and movable therewith, means to urge each presser element of a pair inwardly towards the other element of the pair, means to arrest the inward movement of the presser elements after they have moved a predetermined distance, a cam to move a presser element away from the other element of apair, a

feel'er co-operating with each presser element to engage the tobacco at the end of a cigarette, and means to urge the feelers of a pair towards each other, said last named means being operative after the presser elements of a pair with which the feelers co-operate have been moved into the positions at which they are closest together.

4. In a device for testing and compressing the tobacco at the ends of cigarettes, a rotatable drum, a plurality of' spaced peripheral flutes on said drum, each flute being of substantially rectangular cross-section and adapted to contain one cigarette, means to retain a cigarette against the rear wall and bottom of a flute, a plurality of operating with each presser elementto engage the tobacco at the end of acigarettaandmeans to urge the feelers ofapair towards each other, said last named means being operative after the presser elements of apair withwhich the feelers co-operate have been moved into the position at which they are closest together. V

5. In a device for testing and compressing the tobacco at the ends of cigarettes, a pair of presser elements arranged to engage the opposite ends of a cigarette, said elements each being yieldingly mounted to move inwardly towards the other, means to deliver cigarettes one at a time between the presser elements, means to arrest the inward movement of the presser elements after they have moved a'predetermined distance, a feeler slidably 9. In a device for testing and compressing the tobacco at'the ends of cigarettes, a pair of presser elements arranged'to engage the opposite ends mounted in an aperture in a presser element to project from thatfacej ,of'the presser element which engages the tobacco at the end .of a cigarette and means to cause, the feeler to engage the tobacco at the end of a cigarette while the presser elements of the pair are closest together.

6. In a device for testing and compressing the tobacco at the ends of cigarettes, a movable carrier, a plurality of pairs ofpresser elements each of which is pivoted to the carrierand movable therewith, meansto urge each presser element of a pair finwardly towards the otherelement of the pair, means to arrest the inward movement of the presser elements after they have moved a predetermined distance, a cam to move a presser element away from'the other element of a pair, a

of a cigarette, saidelements each being yield ingly mounted toimove inwardly towards the other, means to deliver cigarettes one at a time between thepresser elements, means to arrest the inward movement of the presser elements after they have moved a, predetermined distance, a feeler slidably mounted in an aperture in a presser element to project from that face of the presser element ,which engages the tobacco at the end of a cigarette, means to cause the feeler to engage the tobacco at the end of a cigarette while the presser elements of the pair are closest together and means dependent on the extent of feeler slidably mounted -in,an aperture in an presser elementto project from that face of the presser element which engages the tobacco at the end of a cigarette, and means to cause the.

feeler to engage the tobacco at the end of a cigarette while the presser elements of the pair are closest together. 7,

7. In a device for testing and compressing the tobacco at the ends of cigarettes, a pair of presser elements arranged to engage the opposite ends of a cigarette, said elements each being yieldingly mounted to -move inwardly towards the other, means to deliver cigarettesone at a time between the presser elements,'means to arrest the inward movement of the presser elements after they have moveda predetermined distance, a

feeler co-operating with each presser element'to engage the tobacco at the end of a cigarette, each said feeler being movable relatively to the presser element with which it cooperates, means to effect movement of the feelers toward each other after the presser elements have been moved into the positions at which they are closest together, and means dependent on the extent of the inward movement of the feeler to separate from the tested cigarettes those which are determined by the feeler to have'soft ends.

8. In a device for testing and compressing the tobacco atthe ends of cigarettes, a movablecarrier, a plurality of pairs of presser elements each of which is pivoted to the carrier and movable therewith,means to urge eachpresser element of a pair inwardly towards the other element of the pair, means to arrest the inward movement of the presser elements after they have moved a predetermined distance, a cam to move a presser element away from the other element of a pair, a feeler co-operating with each presser element to engage the tobacco at the end of a cigarette, each said feeler being movable relatively to the presser element with which it cooperates, meansv to'effect movement of the feelers toward each a predetermined distance, a cam to move a presser element away from the other element of a pair,'a feeler slidably mounted in an aperture in a presser element to project from that face of the presser element which engages the tobacco at the end of a cigarette, means to cause the feeler to engage the tobacco at the end of a cigarette while the presser elements of the pair are closest together and means dependent on the extent of the inwardmovement of the feeler to separate from the tested cigarettes those which are determined by the feeler to have soft ends.

11. In a device for testing and compressing the tobacco at the ends of cigarettes, a pair of presser elements movable in a predetermined path and arranged to engage the opposite ends of a cigarette, said elements each being yieldingly mounted to move inwardly towards the other, means to arrest the inward movement of the presser elements after they have moved a predetermined distance, a feeler co-operating with each presser element to engage the tobacco at the end of a cigarette, means to urge said feelers towards each other, said last named means becoming operative after the presser elements have been moved into the position at which they are closest together, means to move a feeler away from the other feeler of the pair, a separating element movable between the feelers to separate from the tested cigarettes those which are determined to have soft ends, an electrically operated device to effect movement of the separating element, an electrical circuit to energize said device, means movable in timed relationship with the feelers to completesaid circuit and yielding contact members movable in response to engagement by said feelersand thereby to break said circuit and prevent the energizing ofsaid electrically operated device.

CYRIL BEST. 

